Vol. 572 No. 6
183 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if a scheme of performance awards for senior civil servants has been put in place; the criteria for granting a performance award; the award that is being made to high performers; the proportion of relevant grades which have achieved high performance awards; and if similar information will be provided regarding the lower categories of performance level. [23926/03]
Following the recommendations of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in its report dated 25 September 2000, the Government decided to replace the then existing scheme in the Civil Service with a new scheme of performance-related awards. The new scheme applies to Civil Service posts at the levels of Assistant Secretary and Deputy Secretary with effect from 1 January 2002.
Decisions on performance-related awards for individual posts are made by the Committee for Performance Awards based on recommendations from Secretaries General in the case of the Civil Service posts. The committee also decides on awards for Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners in the Garda Síochána, based on recommendations from the Garda Commissioner, and on awards for Brigadier Generals and Major Generals in the Defence Forces based on recommendations from the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. The schemes for the relevant ranks in the Garda Síochána and Defence Forces were introduced with effect from 1 May 2002.
The Committee for Performance Awards comprises the Secretary General, Public Service Management and Development, Department of Finance, the Secretary General to the Government and three members from the private sector. Decisions on awards are based on an assessment of performance against pre-set objectives. The individual objectives vary from area to area but go beyond the normal requirements of the jobs and are derived from the strategy statements for the organisations.
The funding for awards is based on 10% of the payroll for the posts covered by the scheme. Within this overall limit payments of up to 20% can be made to individuals.
The first awards under the new scheme of performance-related awards were approved by the Committee for Performance Awards earlier this year in respect of 2002. A total of 190 persons in the Civil Service, or in organisations under the aegis of a Government Department, participated in the scheme and received awards. In addition, awards were approved for 12 persons in the Garda Síochána and 11 persons in the Defence Forces. The total cost of the awards made in respect of 2002 was approximately €2 million. This amount comprised approximately €1.9 million for the Civil Service posts, approximately €79,000 for the ranks in the Garda Síochána and approximately €57,000 for the ranks in the Defence Forces.
In its annual report for 2002, the Committee for Performance Awards indicated that the proportions of the groups concerned which received different ranges of awards were as set out below. This information relates to the 213 persons for whom awards were approved by the committee i.e. 190 in the Civil Service, 12 in the Garda Síochána and 11 in the Defence Forces.
|
Range of awards |
Proportions receiving awards in the range |
|
15% to 20% |
3.8% |
|
10%+ and less than 15% |
30.5% |
|
5%+ and up to 10% |
62.4% |
|
5% or less |
3.3% |
